


We could stay right here

by StarksDeservedBetter (orphan_account)



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coronavirus, Crack, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Isolation, Locked In, Sharing a Bed, another quarantine fic, arya may actually murder gendry in this fic we'll see, how many non-normal surfaces will these two bang on?, the number is too damn high
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:15:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23447623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/StarksDeservedBetter
Summary: After returning from Essos, Arya is forced to self-isolate in a hotel in order to prevent the spread of a deadly virus that is sweeping through Essos and is almost certainly being brought back. However, she's forced to share a hotel room with Gendry, someone who she hasn't met and gets on her nerves almost instantly.What's the worst that could possibly happen?Title
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters
Comments: 58
Kudos: 126





	1. Touchdown

“What do you mean we have to isolate?”

Arya let out a sigh and leaned on the popped-up handle of her suitcase. She could hear the Karen complaining from ten people away, and at a guess, there would be a couple more who wanted to voice their unimpressed opinion before she would get her instructions on what to do. Instead, she dug into her pocket and pulled out the plastic container she kept her wireless headphones in, popped the lid open and put one headphone into her left ear. She dug her phone out of her pocket and was about to press play on Spotify, when someone bumped into her from behind. Arya staggered, but recovered and got back to her feet. She turned around and saw a black-haired, blue-eyed man looking at her very apologetically, but that didn’t help suppress the burst of irritation she felt.

“Sorry.”

“Watch where you’re going, stupid.”

The man blinked, then stood up and continued his rush forward with his duffle bag bouncing around behind him. Arya glared at him, and then lowered her eyes back to her phone. The line in front of her shuffled forward a little. It seemed like the Karen had accepted the fact that anyone coming back from Essos was being forced into isolation because of a virus that Westeros was yet to be hit by, but they wanted to do everything possible to prevent a catastrophic spread. Which made sense. Arya looked ahead again and saw a pair of girls around her age that were talking like Sansa did when she was going through her extra phase. She let out an annoyed sigh through her nostrils. It was going to be a long wait.

—

“So I’m isolating, right?”

The airport worker looked at her, surprised with how blunt she was.

“Yes ma’am, that’s right. Government requirement. In order to…”

“Don’t worry, I heard you tell the guy before me,” Arya grumbled. “Just tell me where to go and what room has a bed I can fall on.”

“Hotel across the road, and you’ll be in Room Three-Four-Three. Though, I must warn you, due to crowding there may be some shared accommodation arrangements. But I assure you the suites are all big and there are enough sleeping amenities for everyone.”

“And if I’m quarantined with someone who has the virus, and I don’t have it?” Arya asked. “What then?”

“Then you’ll be compensated by the government and given excellent care.”

“Just give me the damn key please,” she grumbled.

She could have driven home, but she would have been found out by the government. Then again, who would go looking for her in a cabin out in Winterfell’s woods? It wasn’t worth the risk though. As she exited out of customs and crossed the road toward the hotel, she looked up at the tall tower of the building above her. Was her room on the third floor, or the thirty-fourth? As she got into the lobby, she was confronted with a board plastered with room numbers, and their corresponding floors, because apparently no one designed anything with simplicity in mind any more. Her room was on the fifth floor, so Arya called an elevator and rode it upward until the doors slid open. She wheeled her suitcase along until she found the door with “343” plastered on it in silver. She pressed the card against the door and turned the handle after the lock clicked open. The inside was too dark for Arya to see anything, so she turned on the first switch she could feel and wandered inside. There was a kitchen, a living area and one bedroom. Arya dropped her suitcase on the floor and wandered toward the bedroom, when out stepped a man in only a towel. Arya jumped, and she heard his high pitched cry of surprise. She pulled one of her earphones out as he opened his mouth.

“You’re not room service!”

“And you’re not the hooker I ordered, unless you decided a towel is a sexy cop outfit,” Arya shot back.

“I… what? What are you doing in my room?”

“I’m sorry, but this is my room,” Arya said. “See?”

She held up the card and turned the number side to face the man.

“Three-four-three.”

“Yeah obviously it says that otherwise you couldn’t have… But mine has…”

The proverbial light bulb came on in Arya’s head.

“Oh fuck me, shared accommodation… The woman said that might happen.”

“How are we meant to share with one bed?”

“… with one what?”

The man went to reach for a light switch, then paused.

“Can I get dressed? Please?”

“Sure,” Arya said.

The man however stood there staring at her expectantly.

“My clothes are on the bed,” he said after a long, pregnant pause.

“Oh!” Arya exclaimed.

She promptly turned around and faced away from the stranger. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen him before. And then it hit her.

“Hey, you’re the guy who bumped me at the airport!”

She turned around, all thought of the stranger’s decency gone. Luckily, he’d put pants on and was halfway through wrangling a shirt over his head.

“Weren’t you!”

“Erm, yeah,” the man said. “I apologised though, didn’t I?”

“You ran into me!” Arya growled.

“Okay, if it’s going to be such a big issue, considering we have to spend the next fourteen days together, how can I make it right?”

“Give me the bed.”

“Fuck off.”

“I’m serious. Give me the bed.”

The man looked at her and let out a tired sigh.

“You want an entire queen bed to yourself.”

“Well I’m sure as shit not sharing it,” Arya shot back.

She could see his jaw clench, and knew some sort of curse was on the tip of his tongue, but he clearly realised he was going to lose the argument and raised his hands in surrender.

“Fine. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Couch, floor, attic, doesn’t bother me,” Arya said. “We’re not sharing.”

The man let out a sigh as he gathered his belongings and threw them into his duffle bag. Arya stood there and placed one hand on her hip, and watched him relocate.

“You know, if we’re going to be living together for two weeks, we should know each other's names.”

“Arya.”

The man smiled as he hauled his duffle bag over his shoulder.

“Gendry. I’d say it’s a pleasure, but…”

“Just… shut up and let me sleep,” Arya grumbled. “We can talk after I sleep off this jet lag.”

“Oh, uh, sure,” Gendry muttered. “Do you…”

Arya interrupted him by marching forward and flinging herself down onto the mattress. She spread herself out like a starfish and buried her face into the pillow.

“Lights out. And if you snore, I’ll kill you.”


	2. Face to Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first morning of isolation: Gendry has a heart attack

The couch was surprisingly comfortable, as far as couches went. His legs were cramped, the side of his head ached and he swore there were imprints of springs on the side of his chest. Still, it could have been worse. He could have slept on the floor. Gendry sat up and stretched his arms out above his head and rubbed his dry eyes. He picked the grit out of the pockets of his eyes, and then slowly got up, stretching one cramped leg at a time. He wandered over to the phone that was in the kitchen and read the quarantine ordering instruction sheet he had been given last night when he had checked in. It was simple enough; ring the number and follow the phone menu, then dial in the options you wanted. Gendry rang the number up and listened to the options once all the way through before placing his order. He glanced over at the bedroom, with the door open and the room cloaked in shadow, then figured that Arya would order whatever she wanted when she woke up. Then again, she hadn’t read the menu and the instructions… Just to be safe, he ordered an extra plate of bacon, some pancakes, toast and another coffee. He looked back into the bedroom, and smiled when he heard a loud snore. It sounded like a wolf was mauling something to death in there.

_ I wonder what she’d do if I told her she was snoring _ , Gendry wondered.  _ Probably kick me in the nads. _

He’d never met anyone quite like Arya before. He had to give some leeway in his first impression though. After all, she was tired, jet lagged and had just been told she has to spend the next fourteen days locked in a small hotel room with a total stranger. Gendry was no extrovert, so he could sympathise with Arya being rather short. But he had to wonder; was she always like that? Because if she was, he may well be living in fear temporarily. He let out a quiet sigh and sat down on the couch. Gendry realised he probably should have checked if it was a sofa bed or not. He peeled one of the cushions back, and scowled. The sight of a metal bar underneath annoyed him, but also he figured that the cushions of the couch were going to be softer than the small, flimsy mattress that was folded underneath. Gendry ran his palm up his cheek and felt the hint of stubble grazing against the skin. He needed a shower, and a shave. And a pee. He got up from the couch and walked as silently as he could into the bathroom, thanking the gods that it wasn’t in the same room as the bedroom. Otherwise he’d probably be mauled by Arya. Once inside he gently closed the doors and turned on his electric shaver, and ran it over his face. He didn’t really bother shaving properly; it’s not as though he was seeing anyone, and besides, an electric razor did a good enough job. Once he had cleared the stubble from his face, he turned the shower on and waited for it to start steaming, then stepped under the stream of warm water.

_ At least this shower is nicer than mine _ , Gendry thought.

Not that it was overly hard to beat a shower that was more temperamental than the sleeping woman next door was. Gendry finished washing himself and stepped out onto the bathmat. He grabbed a towel and dried himself off, then got dressed in a grey t-shirt and black track pants. He ruffled his wet hair with his hand, not really caring much if it held its style or not. He clearly wasn’t trying to dress to impress. He made sure to turn the lights off before he slowly opened the bathroom door and headed back into the living room, but after he stepped out and turned to his right he got the fright of his life. There was something, no, someone crouched on the arm of the sofa. He cleared his throat, and the person whipped their head around like some sort of paranormal creature. There was a bit of bacon hanging out of their mouth, and there were wide grey eyes staring at him behind a messy tangle of hair.

“Are you okay?” Gendry asked.

Arya, the person perched on the arm of the couch, practically swallowed the rasher of bacon that she was halfway through eating and tilted her head to the left.

“Yeah, fine actually,” she said. “Was this yours?”

“Obviously,” Gendry grumbled.

“Well it’s not as if it had your name on it.”

“You know, I ordered some for you as well.”

Arya blinked and returned her head back to a normal position.

“That’s awfully nice of you for someone who saw me at my worst last night,” she commented.

“Yeah well, how does the saying go? If you can’t handle me at my worst you don’t deserve my best?”

Arya snorted and hopped off of the arm of the couch.

“You’re stupid.”

Gendry noticed she’d gotten changed at some point into an oversized t-shirt which covered down to her knees. When Arya repositioned and sat down, he caught sight of some sky blue pyjama shorts, but they were gone and his attention was diverted to Arya making a happy groan of glee when she realised there was coffee.

“Did you get two of these?” she asked.

“Yeah, well again, I figured you’d want something to eat.”

Gendry sat down next to her and removed the cloches from the plates.

“Bacon, toast, pancakes, coffee…”

Arya clapped her hands excitedly and tucked her legs up underneath herself.

“And this is all free?”

“Yeah, hotel is providing meals since we can’t leave.”

“We’re going to get so fucking fat, you do realise that right?”

Arya grabbed a slice of toast, buttered it up and shoved a handful of bacon on it. She buttered another slice and finished her bacon sandwich, then chomped into it.

“You shure thish ish free, mm?”

“Do you want to try swallowing before you speak?” Gendry asked.

Arya paused, chewed the sandwich and then swallowed, before looking up at Gendry.

“Fuck off.”

“Charming,” Gendry grumbled. “And yes, that’s what the form said. All meals will be provided by the hotel, and any other items we may need are also covered, such as cleaning supplies or other essentials.”

Arya poured out a mug of coffee and added some milk to it. She grabbed the mug with her left hand while clutching the sandwich in her right.

“Well, if they do charge us, I’ll just send the bill to my sister’s millionaire girlfriend.”

“I…”

Gendry decided to abandon his question, and instead grabbed his share of breakfast. He sat down next to Arya, putting as much distance between them as he could, and then ate his bacon silently.

“We could open a blind if you wanted.”

Arya looked at Gendry after his half-question, half-statement.

“I’m like a vampire until I’m caffeinated. I don’t want to see natural light.”

“And you also bite people?”

“Hey, if you’re into that,” Arya said with a shrug.

‘I’m not,” Gendry retorted.

“Suit yourself. Different strokes and all.”

Gendry glanced over at her and shook his head slowly. This was going to be a long two weeks.

“We need to figure out a way to pass the time,” he declared.

Arya stopped chewing her bacon sandwich and looked up at him. She arched an eyebrow in surprise at his sudden statement.

“Well we’re not fucking to pass the time.”

Her words were so unexpected that Gendry laughed in a shocked way.

“I never said…”

“Does the hotel have board games?”

“That’s just an excuse for you to stab me.”

“Like I need an excuse,” Arya countered.

“Touche,” Gendry muttered. “I could ring reception and ask?”

“Well since we can’t leave you’d think the hotel would provide something for us to do. Unless they want us all to go insane.”

“There’s always the crosswords in the paper,” Gendry suggested.

“You must be really fun at parties,” Arya grumbled.

“What?” Gendry grunted. “It’s hassle free.”

“We’re getting a board game.”

“Fine,” Gendry conceded. “Which do you want?”

“Scrabble. Monopoly gets too brutal, and those pieces are choking hazards.”

“I wouldn’t be trying to eat them…”

Arya arched an eyebrow and smirked at him.

“I have a habit of jamming the car in people’s throats if I lose.”

Gendry gulped and suddenly felt as if throwing every single game they played may be a smart idea. Then again, he didn’t really know how to play Monopoly. He just bought things.

“I… Are you serious or are you joking?”

“Play a game with me and you’ll find out,” Arya teased with a wink.

“I don’t think I want to now…”

“Pussy,” Arya muttered.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then snatched her coffee up from the tray. Thankfully they brought them up in travel cups, otherwise it probably would have gone all over her.

“I’m going to have a shower,” she declared. “If you need to pee, do it in a bottle.”

“I wouldn’t dream of setting foot in there,” Gendry grumbled.

“Good, because I don’t masturbate for an audience unless they pay.”

Gendry wheezed a laugh at her very unexpected comment. He found her rude, abrasive, and a giant pain in the ass. But as she walked away into the bedroom and shut the bathroom door, he had the strangest realisation.

_ For some reason, I enjoy her company. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So does anyone want to guess how well Scrabble is going to go?


	3. Chapter 3

This isn't being finished. I'm taking a break from writing Gendrya.

**Author's Note:**

> if you're going to complain about arya being mean to your poor sweet gendry, do it elsewhere. they just met and she's jetlagged. I don't want to read it.


End file.
